1
as in absurd
conceived or made without regard for reason or reality
an unreal claim that is distant from the slightest hint of truth
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in imaginary
not real and existing only in the imagination
the unreal world of TV sitcoms
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unreal
Not all the at-the-rim shots are off the dribble, but that at-the-rim percentage is pretty unreal.
—
Cj Moore, New York Times, 9 Feb. 2026
Getting to play Survivor once is a dream, getting to play twice and on a monumental anniversary season is unreal.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Jan. 2026
Fitting for someone who owes his job to reality TV, even though at times what went on Wednesday seemed unreal.
—Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 21 Jan. 2026
The 2025 Longhorns began the season with almost unreal expectations.
—Dj Siddiqi, Forbes.com, 17 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for unreal
Cj Moore, New York Times, 9 Feb. 2026
Getting to play Survivor once is a dream, getting to play twice and on a monumental anniversary season is unreal.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Jan. 2026
Fitting for someone who owes his job to reality TV, even though at times what went on Wednesday seemed unreal.
—Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 21 Jan. 2026
The 2025 Longhorns began the season with almost unreal expectations.
—Dj Siddiqi, Forbes.com, 17 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for unreal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unreal
Adjective
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Straight men, in particular, are only talked about, kept in the background, or appearing as authority figures trying to uphold absurd laws and traditions.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Pepsi’s chart is absurd and someone’s going to look stupid when the momentum fades.—
Josh Brown,Sean Russo,
CNBC,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Your brain treats heartbreak like a physical injury That crushing feeling in your chest isn’t imaginary.—
Kyra Dahring,
CNN Money,
14 Feb. 2026
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Lugers tilt to an imaginary track.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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In a bizarre twist, Sweden’s Sara Hector and Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund skied identical times — down to the hundredth of a second — in the morning and afternoon to tie for silver.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Feb. 2026
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Of all the Manhattan’s children—and there are many—the Harvard Cocktail is perhaps the most bizarre.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Comulate also invented a fictitious insurance agent named Jordan Bates, who purported to work for PBC and who interacted with Applied Systems salespeople through email (with a Phoenix Benefits email domain) to create a customer account on Applied’s Epic.—
John Hyatt,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
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In a comparable case in the United States in 2023, a federal judge imposed $5,000 fines on two lawyers and a law firm after ChatGPT was blamed for their submission of fictitious legal research in an aviation injury claim.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Counting on one of the league’s most expensive talents to play meaningful minutes from here on out at his age with a track record like that is nearly as foolish as Nico trading a perennial MVP candidate at 26.—
Kevin Sherrington
Feb. 4,
Dallas Morning News,
4 Feb. 2026
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The lesson isn’t that NBA teams are reckless or foolish.—
Spencer Harrison,
New York Times,
1 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The difference between documentary approaches and fictional approaches to a musical figure — at heart, there’s no difference at all.—
Daniel D'Addario,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
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But in a first for Marvel, Abdul-Mateen II was not there as himself, but rather in character as Simon Williams to discuss the fictional Wonder Man movie that is central to season one of the Disney+ show.—
Aaron Couch,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Last week, the wind-power green scam artists were back in federal court, arguing to be permitted to keep squandering billions more on those insane offshore windmills that produce next to no energy, but plenty of pollution.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
1 Feb. 2026
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That’s the best reaction to these stupid, insane men ruling the world now and trying to grab and dominate the world.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The series follows a teenage boy who forms an unlikely alliance with the Fairy Queen of Celtic lore to search for malevolent mythical creatures from around the world, among them the Yeti, Baba Yaga and a Lady Dracula — not to destroy them, but to save them from impending doom.—
Ed Meza,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
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Jones portrays the fierce warrior Prince Vlad of Wallachia, who goes on to become the mythical Dracula.—
Hanna Wickes,
Kansas City Star,
13 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unreal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unreal. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
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